Q&A: Turn 10 on Forza 2's 11 new rides

Lead designer Dan Greenawalt chats about upcoming downloadable content pack for Xbox 360-exclusive racer.

Released in May of this year, Forza Motorsport 2 continues to thrive not just through its vibrant community of online racers, paint-scheme designs, and active-auction system, but through Turn 10's support of the game through downloadable content as well. The first DLC pack was released back in August and featured a handful of cars as a free download. Now, the team at Turn 10 is preparing the next DLC pack, which will feature 11 new cars (one of which, the 2007 SEAT Leon Cupra, will be a free download). The download pack is due for release at the end of September and will cost 400 Xbox Live Marketplace points.

A full list of cars being added to Forza 2 is as follows.

- 2007 SEAT Leon Cupra (FREE DOWNLOAD)

- 2006 Audi R10 (#8 Audi Sport Team Joest) Prototype

- 1970 Dodge Challenger R/T Hemi

- 2006 Dodge Challenger Concept

- 2006 Honda Civic Si Coupe

- 2007 Honda Civic Type-R

- 1967 Lamborghini Miura P400

- 2006 Lamborghini Miura Concept

- 2007 Porsche 911 GT3 RS (997)

- 2007 Saturn Sky Red Line

- 2007 SEAT Leon Supercup

Audi R10 Prototype

We recently spoke with Forza 2's lead designer Dan Greenawalt to get some insight on what went into creating this DLC pack, and what we might expect from the Turn 10 crew in the future.

GameSpot: This will be the second downloadable set of cars for Forza 2. How was fan response to the first set, and what did you want to do with DLC pack number 2?

Dan Greenawalt: After we shipped Forza Motorsport 2, the team took a well-deserved hiatus. As soon as we got back, we started DLC production. Our first release was the Nissan Pack plus the Peugeot 908 race car. That first pack served several purposes for Turn 10. First, it was an important test bed for our DLC processes, tech, and code. Second, it set up the Nissan of North America Sponsored Tournament that recently kicked off over Xbox Live. And finally, it delivered the new Peugeot 908 race car, which was part of a big Forza Motorsport/Xbox 360/Peugeot Sport promotion in France.

Fan response to the first pack was great, especially as it related to the Nissan Tournament. Personally, I was really excited about the Peugeot 908. I had a chance to see that car unveiled at the Paris Auto Show--it's an amazing piece of technology and design. It's also the first race car in the game that can be taken into the Paint Shop. We've seen some amazing liveries come out of the community with that car.

GS: Is there a theme to the second DLC pack for the game? What will we find in this set?

DG: That first pack was all business. Now that we have the code and processes down, this second pack is our first real attempt at premium DLC. I wouldn't say that there is an overarching theme to this entire pack. However, there are some minithemes to it. We wanted to include some new models we didn't have time to build for Forza Motorsport 2, including a couple concept cars. Once we started looking at those concept cars, we thought it would be cool to provide some historical backstory. For example, this pack includes the Lamborghini Miura Concept show car as well as the old '60s Miura that inspired it. We also have the new Dodge Challenger concept and the old 1970 Challenger Hemi that inspired it.

GS: Tell us about the different cars in this download. How do the cars vary in terms of class, performance index, and so on? Any particular favorite or unusual model that Forza fans should check out right away?

Porsche GT3 RS

DG: One of Forza's strengths is its diversity. This pack really highlights that diversity. We've got a race-ready turbo diesel (the Audi R10) right next to a low-performance class inline 4 (the Honda Civic Si Coupe) with tons of upgrade potential. This pack contains cars with classic tires and race compounds. It's got front-weighted front-wheel drive (Honda Civic Type-R) and rear-weighted rear-wheel drive (Porsche 911 GT3 RS). It's got America muscle (Dodge Challenger) and rally-inspired European hot hatches (SEAT Leon Cupra). If I had to pick a favorite, it would be the Porsche GT3 RS--what an amazing car. With 415 horsepower, an 8,400rpm redline, and a performance-tuned exhaust, the GT3 RS provides a driving experience (street or circuit) that is truly extraordinary.

GS: Were any of the cars in this DLC pack originally meant for the disc version of Forza 2, or were these all meant for DLC?

DG: Several of these cars have been on the car list at one point or another--that list was over 1,000 cars at different points in preproduction. However, these cars were not built until after the game shipped. It takes a really long time to build and test a high-poly car model that supports upgrades, painting, and damage. As a result, we have to be very careful about what we invest in. It's also extremely difficult to get the amount of reference we need for new cars, and especially concept cars. Often the manufacturers don't have the data finalized until the car goes into final production. Our most reliable way to get reference is to contact a real owner (rather than a manufacturer) and arrange to capture the car, including a dyno session to get the audio.

GS: How does the team decide what cars get put in these packs? Is it knock-down, drag-out brawls in the Turn 10 conference rooms, or is there a slightly more scientific approach?

DG: [Laughs.] Knock-down, drag-out brawls, as well as some bribery.

GS: In terms of development, how long does it take for a typical car model to go from concept to playable in Forza 2? How does that compare to the original Forza?

DG: Generally, its takes a car 11 to 12 production weeks to go from reference complete to playable in the build with a full team of car artists, data researchers, and sound designers working on it. We have several of these teams, so this work can happen simultaneously on different cars. Also, we can speed up the production of each car by combining several car teams onto one car--as we did for the cars of the Nissan and Peugeot pack. However, it can get really bogged down if we can't find or capture a good reference.

Lamborghini Miura

In the original Forza Motorsport, it took a smaller car team 6 to 7 production weeks to make each car. It's easy to inflate production numbers by counting them in man-years. For example, a team of 6 people working for 11 weeks to build a car equals more than one man-year to complete. However, that kind of mathematical tomfoolery is pointless. To answer your question best, I'd say it takes four times as many man-hours, but we do it in only twice the time by applying more people and technology. Needless to say, 300-plus cars equal an army of artists, researchers, sound designers, and testers, as well as some cool tech.

GS: Do you have an idea of how many cars will eventually be created for Forza 2 when it's all said and done? At what point does the team move away from DLC development and turn its full attention to Forza 3?

DG: DLC packs are like birthday presents for the game and the community--a big part of enjoying it is the surprise. That said, it's safe to say that we'll have several more gifts to share with the Forza community before we turn our energies full time to working on the next Forza.

GS: The last DLC car pack kicked off a Nissan-themed tournament. Will we see something similar for this DLC pack?

DG: We don't have anything scheduled, but [Turn 10 community manager] Che [Chou] and the community team are coming up with cool new twists on tournaments and time-attack scoreboards every week. Some of the more obvious competitions will involve customization contests and hotlap challenges for these new cars, but they're also working on a bigger initiative to bring together the painting and tuning/racing subcultures within the Forza community. There are several ideas I've heard so far on the table--the most interesting one is where we have tournaments that are sponsored by the best artists on the scene and the winners of the tourney receive rare, one-of-a-kind cars from these artists.

GS: After this release, we'll have two DLC car packs. When can we expect new tracks or other goodies in Forza 2? Care to drop any hints on what you have planned next?

DG: We have a lot more in store for the rabid Forza community. It's much easier to "quickly" turn around a cars pack than a track pack. Of course, "quickly" being a relative term in next-gen game production. Tracks take upwards of 3 to 5 months to build, plus testing and iteration time--not to mention the reference collection and coordination trips. That said, DLC tracks are on the way. We started working on DLC tracks at the same time we started the Nissan pack.

GS: Thanks for your time, Dan.

101 Comments

  • amulbocus

    Posted Dec 14, 2007 1:13 pm PT

    Forza Motorsport is not a bad game for 360 owners, but it will be trumped in EVERY aspect as soon as GT5 Prologue comes out and prologue isnt even the full game!!! Heck even GT4 for the PS2 is better than Forza, when it comes down to real driving physics and sheer content.

  • m_de_heij

    Posted Oct 27, 2007 4:39 am PT

    mmm.... there are 300+ cars in the game and they come up with a carpack that has only got 11 cars and costs money. Sorry, not interested.

  • alextrox69

    Posted Oct 12, 2007 11:37 am PT

    weres the 1974 super beetle???

  • Unassigned

    Posted Oct 9, 2007 8:48 am PT

    I wonder if the Civic will sound like a lawn mower. Give it the ole' "I can't afford a real sports car" sound to it.

  • x70xchallengerx

    Posted Sep 30, 2007 2:00 pm PT

    They should add a Bugatti Veyron (as previously mentioned), a murcielago LP640, original McLaren f1. and if they added tracks, they should put a track made especially for drifting, kinda like the one on the drift bible. and take the nurburgring, and re-make the track in the other 3 seasons (winter, summer, and spring, well maybe not spring...) and add some better rims. yea, and a better way to make cars do wheelies... ok im getting ahead of myself...

  • rulo_rezn0r

    Posted Sep 28, 2007 6:03 pm PT

    how about some new circuits

  • Romanticide

    Posted Sep 24, 2007 4:31 pm PT

    Not really worth paying for since the game costs £45 brand new anyway.

    It's pretty sad we're paying for just 11 3D models...How come all PC Games get updated content for free??

  • Geo115

    Posted Sep 24, 2007 12:49 pm PT

    Still waiting for me Bugatti Veyron

  • yaminoshadow

    Posted Sep 23, 2007 10:45 am PT

    11 cars for a mere 400 points?? im sold

  • svipdag

    Posted Sep 22, 2007 12:51 pm PT

    Thank you for the Challengers. They are what makes this pack irresistable... I'll spend my bucks for more muscle cars! I want a 67 Gto, not that ugly 'Judge'. My buddy wants a 69 oldsmobile 442. The concept camaro and the 67 too... The first generation pontiac firebird... I miss Motor City Online. Gimme these cars and you fill the hole in my soul.

    Oh, and since the axela is there, how about my atenza! Come to think of it there ought to be a way on the turn 10 page to vote which cars we want to see next... I am bummed that of the 11 new cars I'm paying for I only really care about 2 of em.

    As far as new tracks? I'm a big fan of Tokyo extreme and love the tokyo night driving... I miss that. For those that love playing to wreck you could put in a figure 8 track. I bet it'd be your most popular track. Hmmm. A scenic stretch of coastal highway would be nice. This game has no water... And a hazzard county track would be fun... Not enough places in this game to catch a little air. The nardo ring would be good if you're planning to release the Veryon. It's the only place where that car truly shines above the rest... And gee how simple of a track is that to model...

  • Galganaban

    Posted Sep 22, 2007 12:19 pm PT

    LOL at Partytime kegs. adding an intake and exhaust and headers to a cividc isnt going to make ita street monster. wtf are you smoking. go buy a real SPORTS CAR if you wanna go fast. not a 4 cyl grocery getter. p.s in real life i drive a 407.36AWHP/430.14AWTQ Stealth kthxbi

  • Agermemnon

    Posted Sep 22, 2007 10:02 am PT

    More tracks would be a good idea and less of these shopping trolley fart boxes please and how about the BUGATTI VEYRON turn 10 ?

  • KronikKilla

    Posted Sep 21, 2007 9:28 pm PT

    Civcs are in because of the addition of the Altima and Sentra Se-R. And if you have a $100,000 to dump into a Civic, do yourself a favor and buy yourself a real car. If you had ever ridden in a REAL sports car, you'd know that your Civic is a Civic, no matter how much money you dump into it.

  • PhantomPhoot

    Posted Sep 21, 2007 7:35 pm PT

    I agree with the general tone of the comments here:

    Less Civics
    More Tracks
    One BMW M6 please :]

    God, how may Civics will GT5 have? I'm afraid to ask (the answer could be expressed in exponential notation X___X).

  • novak2k6

    Posted Sep 21, 2007 3:54 pm PT

    lol why would they put 2 civics in an expansion pack of 11 cars when their are so many more exotic cars. I can understand throwing in one, but two??? 4 banger civics running these tail wings that look like tv antennas and covered in decals like the kid is even sponsored by any of the manufactures is a joke. I had a civic coupe and that thing choked at high speeds with terrible handling. Kiddies running their four door cars that sound like a weedeater have to realize if it has FOUR DOORS, it's a freakin family sedan and not a sports car. And the person stating they would dump 100k into a civic is completely idiotic. For a 100k i'd rather buy a real sports car like a Corvette zo6 that according to C&D magazine is equal to or outperforms Ferrari's and Lambo's. 550 STOCK HP will last a lot longer than your little bottle of NOS.
    BTW their was a newspaper article few months ago that stated people dumping 100k to soup up their rides took a huge loss when trying to sell it, one 100k car going for under $30.

  • partytimekegs

    Posted Sep 21, 2007 12:09 pm PT

    Wow, nice little posts you guys. "Rip that ugly muffler off your civic?" "You can't polish a @@@@" Uh.. what do you guys drive in real life.. ? Because I OWN a 2007 Civic Si.. and I promise you its no joke. Stock LSD.. Decent Suspension.. it may not have an immense amount of horsepower when you roll it out of the dealership.. but I promise you a few tweaks with a reflash kit, new headers, exhaust, and intake (Of course, removing the GOV) that thing would smash you. So please, don't start bashing civics in real life when you haven't even STATED what you drive. For all we know you could be in a Hyundai. By the way, a 100,000 dollar civic would kill a BMW. Thank you.

  • Frost71

    Posted Sep 21, 2007 7:39 am PT

    @hoover2500

    I didn't say anything about an M3 I said M6. Oh and go do me a favor, go outside right now and rip that ugly muffler off your civic. It makes your car sound like a wet fart. I don't care how much money you put it to a civic, it's still a civic. The $100,000 M6 would own your ass.

  • KnuckleZ_V8

    Posted Sep 21, 2007 5:23 am PT

    Welll turn 10, you had me at Audi R10 (being a massive le mans fan)
    cant wait for the new cars! some sweet motors there

  • zidan4000

    Posted Sep 21, 2007 5:05 am PT

    we have enough cars , we need more tracks to race on it , turn10 can you read this? WE NEED MORE TRACKS NOT CARS!!!!!!.

  • KillaSL2

    Posted Sep 20, 2007 11:56 pm PT

    Hey Hoover2500. You buy that civic and spend LOTS of money on it. But in the end...you still have a crappy civic. Remember...you can't polish a turd.

  • miguel_69692003

    Posted Sep 20, 2007 10:41 pm PT

    Agreed, need BMW M6, hoover u'r dumb and so is your dumb imaginary civic, i would get the BMW.

  • dimension4

    Posted Sep 20, 2007 8:13 pm PT

    why another porsche and another civic and another audi? there are way to many of those. i like the idea of the leon cupra for the high end performance and the dodge challenger will be nice but stupid. it's no secret that the muscle cars are hotlap monsters and they probably tweaked the dodge challenger to sound like a reason to buy the content but it is only going to suck

    where is a cadilac cien or a rolls royce just for the heck of it

  • bigmick07

    Posted Sep 20, 2007 6:45 pm PT

    new tracks would be awesome, also i wouldn't mind some more exotic prototype cars, because a man only wants things he can't have

  • hoover2500

    Posted Sep 20, 2007 4:45 pm PT

    ok, so you want a Beamer M3 Frost71?, rather that a civic si, you must be a kid with rich parents, all think alike, if i had the money to buy a bmw i wouldnt i'd buy the civic and put $100000 worth of stuff into it, then when i seen you on the track i'd whoop ur ass....

  • R3DN1N3

    Posted Sep 20, 2007 2:27 pm PT

    Hell yeah track packs!
    So then based on what he said about testing and stuff, I guess we'll be seeing a track pack around Spring. SATURN SKY REDLINE LOL

  • PacoL250

    Posted Sep 20, 2007 10:29 am PT

    @DJ_Lae: Yeah, you're not the only one

    I would hope the next DLC contains tracks...

  • WWIAB

    Posted Sep 20, 2007 10:26 am PT

    tracks are necessary but Generic_dude why would we need oldsmobiles?
    there was like one decent oldsmobile in the entire history of the company

    tracks are coming very soon, I bet it'll be about month at least though

    and I doubt they would do the 5.0 mustang luis612 because if you are on about the fox body mustang, I don't want to drive a 5 litre that has 170hp and I suppose many other people don't either

  • farcryxbox

    Posted Sep 20, 2007 10:10 am PT

    whens it coming out?

  • DJ_Lae

    Posted Sep 20, 2007 10:09 am PT

    Good news, but given that they axed almost a dozen tracks from the original game and only replaced them with Suzuki, I'd rather see new tracks. I need my Blue Mountain, Autumn Circuit, Tokyo, Hill Climb, Shipyards, long New York, Test Oval, etc. I can't believe they even left out something as simple as the drag strip or even the little pylon courses.

  • Luis612

    Posted Sep 20, 2007 9:51 am PT

    where is my Mustang 5.0?

  • memnoch2099

    Posted Sep 20, 2007 9:43 am PT

    I wish they bring back the downhill and hill climb tracks that were previously available in Forza 1

  • FMX_Gamer

    Posted Sep 20, 2007 8:13 am PT

    i dont like any of them cars ! we need more drift tracks !

  • beckit_beck

    Posted Sep 20, 2007 8:10 am PT

    ooo some nice cars in this pack but we need new tracks more =@

  • Frost71

    Posted Sep 20, 2007 7:16 am PT

    Yea wtf, Honda civic SI?? CRAP! They need to add the BMW M6.

  • Bullrog

    Posted Sep 20, 2007 5:49 am PT

    Those cars suck

  • TVR_Fan

    Posted Sep 20, 2007 5:24 am PT

    I am looking forward to these from the Download Pack:

    Audi R10, Lamborghini Miura P400, Lamborghini Miura Concept, Porsche 911 GT3 RS (997), SEAT Leon Supercup, Dodge Challenger Concept

  • AndyRaeside

    Posted Sep 20, 2007 4:24 am PT

    I hope they bring out Blue Mountain as a DLC track... that was one of my top favs in the original

  • Generic_Dude

    Posted Sep 20, 2007 3:39 am PT

    @deanjackson888: AGREED. New tracks are really what's needed.

    I also might add that Forza 2's car list needs Oldsmobiles in a big way. Also, some more Pontiacs would be a plus. And what about AMC and DeLorean?

  • deanjackson888

    Posted Sep 20, 2007 1:57 am PT

    Dammit... nice to have new cars but we all desperately need new tracks. I really thought this DLC would have had a new track or two...
    I love Forza but am bored of replaying the same few tracks.

  • X360MadMan

    Posted Sep 20, 2007 1:33 am PT

    Cool thanks microsoft game studios :¬). 400m-points? LOL that's only £2.50p for all those cars!.

  • WWIAB

    Posted Sep 20, 2007 1:29 am PT

    400 points for all this!!!! wow!!!, this great news for everyone

    we do need more tracks but the car choice is nearly perfect, except the M6 and the new camaro aren't included, thats a bit of a downer but the Muira and the new civic are included

    well done turn 10 you have set a great example, why can't all DLC be this cheap

    (looks at crackdown dlc, then laughs)
    (prays for gallardo engine in muira)

  • Anabub

    Posted Sep 20, 2007 1:01 am PT

    I would have thought that turn 10's first proper DLC would have been just tracks and a couple of cars - I really cannot understand the reasoning behind this. I think Forza will have trouble competing against the other online titles this month some more tracks would have def. saved it!!!

  • DeeCrutch

    Posted Sep 20, 2007 12:30 am PT

    I love Forza, don't get me wrong, but dammit guys, WE NEED MORE TRACKS, not more cars!!!! More cars are cool and all, but the tracks (or lack thereof) are what is hurting Forza the most right now. Devote those 'car' resourses to getting us some more tracks. If you don't, with games like Halo 3 and Mass Effect coming, my attention will be elsewhere. I don't know how to say it any more clearly than that.

  • xployt268

    Posted Sep 19, 2007 11:39 pm PT

    THIS SUX

  • realistgamer

    Posted Sep 19, 2007 10:40 pm PT

    how about more tracks.

  • bern20

    Posted Sep 19, 2007 10:25 pm PT

    Kool, but I prefer new maps. Turn 10 bring the old tracks back from Forza 1 plzz!

  • pinksandcocaine

    Posted Sep 19, 2007 9:12 pm PT

    Big news to me: track packs. Hell yeah.

  • Wickedneoq

    Posted Sep 19, 2007 8:57 pm PT

    Question not asked: Will there be new unicorn cars in the Auction House lineup? There almost has to be to make that feature more interesting.

  • ssjdagas

    Posted Sep 19, 2007 6:59 pm PT

    Nice! At least some companies care about making DLC.

  • karma6

    Posted Sep 19, 2007 6:49 pm PT

    Areola54
    guess 2007 SEAT Leon Cupra is not free for you or you have a problem reading....

    I have a last gen Cupra and it´s an amazing car (im trying to save some money to get the new one) it drives so easily, and the recaro seats fell just right for the car. Im glad they decided to include this one. Love hot-hatches!!!!!!!!

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